Dehydrating a Lean Cuisine?

[Wooflee90]

Okay, I've searched for the answer to this and haven't been able to find it, but I know that it's on WhiteBlaze somewhere.

I understand that you can't dehydrate a frozen dinner (e.g. Lean Cuisine, Smart One, Michaelina, etc.) because the company says to not thaw their product prior to cooking because of risk of bacterial contamination.

But, if you were to cook a frozen dinner first according to the directions on the box, could you then safely dehydrate the cooked meal and then just rehydrate with boiling water on the trail? In my mind, this would be no different from cooking spaghetti at home and then dehydrating the left-overs, as so many people do.

It just seems too easy to do this, but no one is mentioning this anywhere, so I assume there's a problem with this idea? Anyone got any advice on this?

[Hitchin' Post]

Sounds fine to me, since it would be cooked, but I'm not sure why you'd go with Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones. Look for a higher-calorie option, give it a try at home, and be sure to post the results

[RedBeerd]

This is hilarious. Today at lunch I was staring into my healthy choice meal wondering if people have dehydrated them. Come on whiteblaze and see this. too funny!

[Sweetspot]

I have dehydrated a lot of different types of food. But never prepacked food. I don't see any problems. Keep us informed on how it works.

[scree]

Intriguing, but vaguely horrifying. Lean Cuisine reminds me of late nights of work when I have to raid the freezer for something, anything to eat, regardless of how freezer burned or tasteless it may be. Let us know how it turns out.

[Mags]

I am sure someone would come up with a theoretical possible way to do it..but, well, why?

Get some dehydrated black beans, some cous cous, a bit of chili powder and seasonings and you have a nice hearty meal that cooks quickly and is healthy. Go 'gor-met' and add some sun dried tomatoes for a little extra flavoring kick.

[aaronthebugbuffet]

I am sure someone would come up with a theoretical possible way to do it..but, well, why?

Get some dehydrated black beans, some cous cous, a bit of chili powder and seasonings and you have a nice hearty meal that cooks quickly and is healthy. Go 'gor-met' and add some sun dried tomatoes for a little extra flavoring kick.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Bronk]

Why on earth would you take some of the worst food known to man and make it even worse?

[Edie]

Why on earth would you take some of the worst food known to man and make it even worse?

I concur, never had a good lean cuisine

[Wooflee90]

Thanks for the comments. I was using "Lean Cuisine" as kind of a generic term for this type of dinner. Didn't know what else to call it since they really aren't the traditional TV dinners.

I was just playing with my dehydrator and wondered, "Is this possible?" I think the consensus is, "Yes, but why?" Which is a very good point.

Since no one came back with any dire health warnings, I may still try to do this just to see if I can.

[Creek Dancer]

You are going to have a hard time dehydrating any foods, including frozen dinners, that have fat in them. Fat doesn't dehydrate well, if at all. Eventually the fat in your dehydrated food will cause the food to turn rancid if you don't use it soon.